The present invention relates to a transit seat which is particularly suited for use in a mass transportation vehicle, such as a bus or a rapid transit train.
Grab rails have been used in transit seats, their principal advantages having been in assisting passengers either entering or leaving a seat and acting as an assist for standing passengers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,887 issued to C. J. Barecki et al on Mar. 19, 1974 teaches a tubular steel rod attached to upper portions of a seat frame. Alternatively, a tubular steel frame has been vertically extended beyond a plastic shell for a seat to provide a grab rail which is spaced from the plastic shell. Such a grab rail-frame combination is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,979 issued to C. J. Barecki on July 24, 1973. However, grab rails as disclosed in these two patents can relatively easily produce injuries if a passenger strikes them during a vehicle collision or other sudden maneuver.
The need for protecting a passenger has been recognized. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,710 issued to C. J. Barecki et al on Aug. 11, 1970 teaches attaching to the seat frame rails metal panels enclosed in resilient cushioning. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,544,164 issued to S. Ohta on Dec. 1, 1970 teaches a readily deformable back frame for a vehicle seat in an attempt to protect the passenger against injury from the seat frame. However, no one has heretofore solved the problem of the danger to the passenger of a transit seat having a grab rail.